1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to surgical apparatuses for use in minimally invasive surgical procedures, such as endoscopic and/or laparoscopic procedures, and more particularly, relates to wound retraction in these procedures.
2. Description of Related Art
Today, many surgical procedures are performed through small openings in the skin, as compared to large openings that are typically required in traditional procedures, in an effort to reduce trauma to the patient and reduce the patient's recovery time. Generally, such procedures are referred to as “endoscopic”, unless performed on the patient's abdomen, in which case the procedure is referred to as “laparoscopic.” Throughout the present disclosure, the term “minimally invasive” should be understood to encompass both endoscopic and laparoscopic procedures.
During a typical minimally invasive procedure, surgical instruments, such as endoscopes, graspers, staplers and forceps, are inserted into the patient's body through the opening in tissue. To protect the opening from accidental penetration by the surgical instruments, wound retractors are often placed across the opening.
Different openings have different depths and widths due to the needs of the procedures and the conditions of the tissues where the openings are created. For instance, the width of the opening depends on the procedure to be performed, and the depth of the opening may depend on the tissue thickness. For that reason, it is desirable to have a wound retractor that is adapted to retract openings of different widths and depths. Once the wound retractor is placed across an opening, it is also desirable to maintain the opening at its retracted position during the procedure in order to provide a consistent view of the target surgical site.
A typical wound retractor in the prior art is configured to have a particular radial dimension that is designed to fit an opening of a particular width. Wound retractors of different radial dimensions are designed for openings of different widths. There is no single wound retractor with adjustable radial dimension that adapts to fit openings of different widths. Further, the wound retractors in the prior art are also known for their drawbacks such as difficult placement and cumbersome use.
Based on the above, a continuing need exists for a wound retractor with increased ease of use and increased versatility to adapt to openings of different widths and depths.